


Mirrors

by thefairyquill



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 08:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10213499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefairyquill/pseuds/thefairyquill
Summary: A broke college student finally finds a cheap enough apartment to live in. Said apartment comes with several added bonuses, including a view of the dumpsters behind the block, badly insulated windows, a demon trapped in the mirror dimension, several very old chipped mugs and a nasty draft.





	1. Moving In

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This was originally 1) posted and tumblr 2) supposed to be a one shot, buuut I really liked the idea so now its a multi-chaptered fic. Ever wanted to read a fic about demon! Lucy and mortal! Natsu? I've got good news for you buddy, and it begins when you scroll down.

She passed through the glass of the kitchen cupboards, surveying the emptiness they once again held. It had been like this for a while now, and she hated it. Empty rooms, empty cupboards, empty everything- and empty, in particular, of mirrors. She snuck into the glass of the back window, looking out into the backyard of several apartment blocks- dingy, grey and full of scattered trash. Crows dipped in from the skyline every so often, swooping down to collect some thrown away food. Cats slinked behind dumpsters, rooting through the trash. And today, of all days, the sky was a miserable and forlorn grey, heavy with thick brushes of clouds. 

She rattled the window, as much as she could. It creaked, but would not open. Being stuck inside reflections was so utterly boring. She then slid into a glass vase with heavy engravings on it, which altered the colours of the bleak light. She sighed, and looked at the kaleidoscopic rainbow lights the vase produced. Pretty, she decided firmly. She liked this vase quite a lot. It was a comfy, thick glass with lots of nice pictures and colours, and you could see outside. It wasn't quite like a mirror, but it was good enough for her. But mirrors... Oh, how she missed them. 

She heard voices. 

Oh, how sweetly tempting it was, to scare the living daylights out of whoever decided the room was for them. It wasn't like they brought anything worthwhile with them anyway- 

"No, please, please, Mr. Dragneel, do not bring the mirror!" The pink haired boy scoffed, wrapping his scarf closer around his neck. And he clutched a long, thin parcel that resembled- oh. Oh, yes. Yes. Good. A full body mirror. She felt the trembling in herself, the ache to get into it, yes, a mirror, a mirror- 

"Look, the moment it knows the mirror is there, you're doomed! It will get out, and it will try to kill you!" 

The pink haired boy scanned the gangly man with grey stubble on his chin. "Mister, I can assure you, everything will be fine. I've dealt with worse things before." Worse? She almost wanted to slid into a cupboard door and make it fall off its hinges. Worse? She was Lucy Heartfillia, the demon who had almost desecrated the entire world in her wrath. Worse? There was nothing above her. He was clearly lying, she concluded smugly. There was nothing in the world worse than a demon condemned to wander the planes of reflection in an enclosed area.

The man selling the apartment looked just as skeptical as Lucy felt. The pink haired boy lowered his voice to a low whisper and murmured, "I was roomates with a dude that had three huge Bernard dogs. Drool everywhere. Enter the house and you could get knocked over the force of three Bernards running up to you and trying to lick your face. Not as fun as it sounds."

Lucy was angry now. How dare he? So a few dogs were more trouble than she was? 

She would show him. Oh she would show him, after he set up that lovely, beautiful mirror somewhere nice, preferably with some sunlight, so that the morning sun could gently grace her face once more. Oh yes, she liked this man- he was arrogant and stupid, and he brought the mirror. She wouldn't scare him off just yet.

"Alright alright, if you're so sure. Just sign here. But remember, I warned you- the moment you set that mirror up, it will force-" The pink haired man nodded impatiently, already finished signing the document. He pushed the sheet into the shirt man's knobbly hands.

"I'll be fine. There's nothing in this apartment that is worse than what I left behind. Thank you, I'll bring my things in now." 

Lucy slid into the oven door. It was darker here, but it gave her a better view of the man as he carried in several cardboard boxes, full of things. None of those mattered. The thin parcel lay against the door frame, containing what she desired above all else- a lovely, reflective, comfortable mirror. As soon as it was unpacked, she'd fly right in, and she would be able to stretch for a change.

She was almost drooling at the thought of being able to finally see everything clearly- but what she really loved about mirrors, what she absolutely adored about mirrors, was that when two were set up opposite each other-

The boy lifted the thin parcel and carried it out of her sight. Lucy almost shouted in frustration. He was going to the bedroom, she reasoned. She slid into a glass picture frame, and then into a candle holder. She then slipped into a window frame and watched the pink-haired man take off the cardboard off of the mirror.

She sighed lovingly, making the window pane hum slightly. The man- Mr. Dragneel- turned to look straight at her, but saw nothing. Then, he turned his head back, and jumped, the back of his knees hitting the bed frame. He fell onto the bed, rubbing his legs, eyes fixed on the person in his mirror.

Lucy stretched her arms as far as they would go, her stiff joints cracking after months of being cramped into tiny semi-reflective surfaces. Her blonde hair was longer than it had been the last time she was in a mirror. She briefly inspected her black dress, tugging on the long sleeves and the hem at the side. It still fit. 

Her eyes then fixed upon the rather unfortunate college student, who still had his mouth open in shock.

Her eyes were not human, the man decided. Where normal people's eyes were white, hers were black, and her pupils were slitted. Her iris was a near-luminous yellow, matching her hair.

There was a moment of silence as the two looked at each other.

"W-what are you?" Mr. Dragneel managed.

Lucy sneered. "I'm the thing that's better than three St. Bernard dogs."


	2. Essay For a Grade

The scratching of a pen on paper filled the room, echoing off the grey walls. Natsu flipped through a few pages of his textbook, skimming through the paragraphs for anything useful- the essay was supposed to be five pages long, at the least. He had barely managed to write half a page. 

He sighed, putting the pen down and holding his head in his hands. Of course he loved physics- it was simple and fun. Learning about how everything worked, how the world itself worked, easy mathematical calculations with formulas he could memorise and use. It was… Nice. But the only aspect of it that he fell down on was-

“Physics theory: an essay on reflection, hmm?” An echoey voice said from within the mirror. 

“Not now, Luigi.”

The sound of vibrating metal and glass- 

Natsu sighed. “You wouldn't break the only mirror in the apartment.”

The vibrating ceased, to be replaced by the clattering of a pen. Natsu looked down, only to see the demon’s face iterated in the dirty plastic. “Maybe not, but I could break your only pen, boy.” She grinned, showing off long white canines for a split second, before her eyes appeared on the six sides of the pen. Yellow, almost golden, shining with mischief.

Natsu leaned back in the flimsy wooden chair he had dragged from the kitchen. “I'll sell the mirror if you do,” he stated. “Why don't you just go back to, I don't know, doing whatever it is demons do in their spare time? This is due tomorrow.”

Lucy laughed, making the pen roll over, before appearing in the mirror and windows. “Demons torment mortals in their spare time,” She boomed, voice coming from everywhere at once, “We steal, we terrorise, we destroy, we pillage-” 

“Stop it! Do you know how confusing it is, to be shouted at from everywhere at once? You're giving me a headache!”

A beat of silence. “Just a headache? Really? Is that it? Your skull isn't collapsing in on itself, and your brain isn't imploding with the noise?” The pen rolled over, and the demon looked at him, clearly upset.

Natsu groaned. “No, it's just one of those really annoying ones at the back of your head that don't let you concentrate properly. Look, this is for a grade- if I fail this semester too, I'm going to get kicked out. And I haven't been able to find a job here either, I'm already behind in my payments and I have roughly enough money for maybe another week if I can do with bread and water- just… just stop it.”

A billowing silence met his words. Before- “I'm sorry,” a small voice said. “I've trapped in here so long I've sort of… forgotten things. About living. I've forgotten almost everything.”

Natsu looked up from his makeshift desk to the mirror, but the demon wasn't there. Then he looked at the mantelpiece, where an engraved vase glinted with luminous yellow and black. “Sorry,” he said hastily, “I didn't mean to rant, I just-”

“No, it's fine. I'll leave you alone now.” The yellow and black shifted to one side of the vase, becoming muted and dull, almost disappearing altogether.

“Wait- wait a second.” The yellow became vibrant and bright again. “You said you lived once- how long has it been? I mean, how long have you been trapped here?”

A sigh, vibrating through the thick glass, making it hum. “I've lost count of the years. Anyway, shouldn't you be working? Or do you want the thing better than a sloppy roommate to spill all the ink in your pen all over the explanation of Snell’s Law in your textbook?” 

There was a glint of light in the vase, and then yellow became the normal dull shade. The demon was gone.


	3. Fresh Bread

Natsu flung the door open, hauling in his backpack, stuffed with textbooks and refill pads, but also-

“Is that a fresh loaf of bread?” Lucy asked in astonishment. 

Natsu almost slammed the door shut in his haste, cradling the bag in his arms and running to the kitchen. “It is!” He shouted gleefully. “It's a fresh, non-reduced, not-about-to-go-moldy loaf of gorgeous, soft bread!” 

He flung himself at one of the bottom cupboards, rummaging through it. “That's amazing!” Lucy said from one of the top cupboards, appearance distorted and tinted with green. “That's… how did you get it? What did you- oh wow, are you telling me-”

Natsu finally stood up, clutching two, old, crumpled brown paper bags in his fists. “Yes! Yes I am! I got the job, Lucy! I got the job!” 

Lucy clapped her hands, all of the nearby cupboard doors creaking precariously. “Congratulations!” She boomed from all around the tiny kitchen. Natsu grabbed his ears, but didn't even bother telling her off. He filled the tiny kettle with water from the rusty tap and hummed, almost skipping as he placed it on the stove. 

“You won't believe it, they said my resume was exactly what they needed, that I'm starting work tomorrow- it's only for a few days, but the money and experience I'll get for it- Lucy, I think I can finish college!”

“Congratulations boy, that's admirable, don't forget the kettle now, it's starting to whistle-”

“Yeah, and then I can finally get my degree, and get a nice house and move out, go closer to the country- and it's all thanks to that essay on reflection you helped me on, I mean, I don't think you intended to but you helped anyway, if I hadn't mentioned Snell’s Law I really would have failed this semester-”

“Dragneel, the kettle.”

“Oh- right!” Natsu removed the loudly whistling kettle from the stove, turning it off with a deft flick of his wrist. He reached to open up a cupboard, only to find it stuck. He yanked at the handle.

“Lucy,” he said. “C’mon, I want to get a cup, it's the first time I'm going to have tea and bread in months-”

“Are you really going to move?”

The echoey voice had a rather uncharacteristic hint of sadness to it.

Natsu scratched his head. “Well,” he said uncomfortably, “Yeah, I was hoping to. The city is great and all, but I was raised near the country, and well, y’know what they say, ‘home is where-”

“-the heart is.’” Lucy finished, voice empty. 

The silence filled up the room, thick and awkward.

There was a small click as the cupboard opened, revealing a stained and chipped mug. “Enjoy,” Lucy said blankly, gold and black ebbing away from the glass. 

“Hold on!” Natsu called. “Lucy, where are you going? It's my first free day in a while, and we haven't really talked properly, it's only really been ‘muhaha I'm a demon here to torment you!’ this, and ‘Luigi stop cracking the windows it's almost December I'm freezing’ that, and well…”

“Well what?” Lucy’s tone was clipped. There was a faint outline of long blonde hair in the window, a yellow glow silhouetted against the darkness outside.

“We haven't really gotten to know each other at all.”

Lucy laughed, tipped back her head and putting a hand on her forehead, the pane of glass almost buckling in it's frame. “Know each other, Dragneel? Why on earth would you want to know a demon?”

“Well, we're stuck with each other, y'know? Might as well make the best of what we have.” Natsu added a teabag to his cup, pouring in the boiling water slowly. “And you're not that bad, for a demon.”

“‘Stuck with each other’? ‘Not that bad’? If you're trying to compliment me you're doing an abhorrent job, boy.” Despite her words, her presence lingered in the window, and she smiled.

“I'm not taking a master’s in smooth talking! And- oh, one second-” Natsu hurried off somewhere into the other rooms, and Lucy looked outside. A lone streetlamp shone onto the back alley, illuminating several overturned trash cans and spilled rubbish. Old graffiti stained the walls, the tarmac was cracked and crumbling. 

The usual few cats were meandering about, looking for food. A fan was whirring in the side of the apartment block opposite- Lucy always thought it must be a takeaway of some sort, as it always had people leaving through the backdoor looking tired and spent.

Of course he wouldn't want to stay here, she reasoned. He wasn't the first tenant of this apartment, and he wouldn't be the last. He'd move out, someone else would eventually move in. He'd eventually die.

“I'm back,” Natsu said, and Lucy saw the vase in his hands. “You always seemed a bit more comfortable in this,” he said.

Literally no other tenant could be better than this one, Lucy thought fervently.

She had already settled in it before he placed it on the table. “Thank you,” she murmured quietly. “Very thoughtful.”

There was a few seconds of silence as Natsu began to cut the bread, the blunt knife taking a long time to saw a slice off. “So,” he started, “how did you become trapped in here?”

“Typical mortal,” Lucy scoffed. “Always attacking the elephant in the room. I was imprisoned here by my father.”

Natsu stopped sawing. “Oh,” he said. “I'm sorry, we can talk about something else-” 

Lucy shook her head, making the vase tip backwards and forwards. “No, it's fine. After 400 or so years, it becomes a story that you need to tell someone. At least one someone. Besides, you're a mortal- what are you going to do, tell half of it to your friend before you both die?” Lucy’s chuckle made the glass shake.

“Our life expectancy isn't THAT short!” Natsu responded indignantly.

“To us, it is.” 

Natsu put the knife down, finally taking the roughly hewn slice of bread and ripping off a chunk with his teeth, savouring the taste before swallowing. It had been so long since he had something fresh, still warm. 

“How did it happen, then?” He asked, wrapping his hands around the warm mug.

Lucy smiled, unbeknownst to Natsu. “Finish that slice and don't eat anymore- unless you want to throw it all up. Mortals have weak stomachs.”


End file.
